For: Middle school and high school teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District and affiliated charter schools

What: Run a course in your school that combines civic engagement with game design

When: Teachers will complete 2-day professional development workshop August 24-25, and the program runs during the 2017-18 school year

How: Apply now for the chance to receive PD and participate in this exciting program

Ever wanted to learn how to teach game design? Apply now to teach your students how to make games about real-world social issues! Twenty LAUSD teachers will be selected to receive professional development training on August 24 and 25 to run a game design course in their classrooms during the 2017–2018 school year, as part of the Games for Change Student Challenge. Teachers will learn how to implement the Mouse game design curriculum, and empower their students to use the design process to create games about real-world issues affecting their communities. Teachers will be trained in August or September, and courses launch in schools in September 2017. Participating students will be encouraged to submit their final games to the Student Challenge competition in April 2018.

The G4C Student Challenge is a digital game design competition that invites middle and high school students to create original games about real-world issues impacting their communities. The 2016-2017 program is currently being run in NYC, Dallas, and Pittsburgh public schools. Challenge winners win prizes such as paid internships and mentorships. An awards ceremony and exhibition of student games will be hosted in each city.

Student learning and teacher PD is supported by online resources, in-person mentorship by professional game designers, game jams and workshops. Through the Challenge’s hands-on game design program, students develop 21st-century skills such as systems thinking and inquiry-based learning by both designing games and engaging in civic problem solving. Teachers learn to use game design as a teaching tool, and communities benefit from students’ active engagement in local issues.

One often hears about teachers who were an inspiration to their students, who were beloved for their kindness and understanding, or even their toughness. Those stories are touching and true. This story is about a person who was all of that and more to thousands of teachers who never even knew her.

Nancy Finkelstein, our friend and colleague, passed away on Leap Year Day 2016 after a short, intense bout with leukemia. Before retiring in 2009, she was project manager for the Science Media Group (SMG) at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA. Before that, she was the president of Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA). But at her core, Nancy was a teacher, having taught for Malden, MA public schools. And her mission was to empower teachers.

In its condolence message to its members, MTA leaders shared this memory of Nancy: “Nancy said to the 1988 Annual Meeting, ‘When people have asked me what I do, I never respond that I am a union president. I tell them that I am a teacher. I am proud to be a teacher. I am proud to be the president of teachers. And I am very proud of all of you.’”

Dr. Matt Schneps, Nancy’s colleague at the SMG and its founding director, remembered Nancy’s forthright attitude. “Nancy, always the pragmatist, was the person I relied on when I needed a reality check, to rein in my head-in-the-clouds ideas. She had a remarkable understanding of people. And she had a clear — and often colorful way of conveying her thoughts. ‘If you think that’s gonna work, I’ll eat this stapler,’ she’d say, holding the metal desktop gizmo up against her clenched teeth. She was right, of course. When Nancy spoke, people listened, and without her sage tell-it-like-is council, we would not have been able to accomplish even a small fraction of what we did.”

Nancy built a team that ran the Annenberg Channel, a 24/7 satellite-delivered source of professional development video programming for teachers. She also was the host/moderator of the very first workshop series “The Private Universe Project in Science.” The early workshops focused on math and science and later expanded into all discipline areas. Nancy shaped and whipped into shape many of the series that are hallmarks of teacher professional development: Looking at Learning…Again, Science in Focus workshops, and Essential Science for Teachers courses, among many other titles.

Under Nancy’s watch the Annenberg Channel went from a few hours after school to a few dozen sites delivered by the Massachusetts Corporation for Educational Technology (MCET), to a national range reaching more than 99,000 schools. As part of that effort, Nancy’s team oversaw the use of the workshops by teacher study groups and set up a system for teachers to earn graduate credit through Colorado State University or a certificate of participation. Nancy understood that teachers also needed to keep up with training and certification to move up the pay scale. And those teachers who wanted to improve their practice, were the ones who would be most effective in the classroom.

“What I remember about Nancy above all other things was her deep sense of compassion and resolute integrity. She was a person who strongly believed that all people (teachers, students, parents, workers,…) needed to be treated with respect,” said Dr. Schneps, “a philosophy we learned from and tried to emulate as best we could.”

Nancy Finkelstein imbued Annenberg programming with that respect. Generations of teachers and their students have felt it. Even if they didn’t know her.

We thank you, Nancy, for what you have done for all of us. We shall miss you dearly.

Post written by Sara Romeyn, high school Honors Global History and AP United States History teacher and participant in the 2015 Newseum Summer Teacher Institute: “Primarily Digital: Teaching Media Literacy to Plugged-in Students,” sponsored by Annenberg Learner. Look for the #ANEW15 hashtag on Twitter.

I was fortunate to take part in the “Primarily Digital” workshop in late July. I have attended many professional development workshops in my 20-year career as a teacher, but this was one of the standouts. It was relevant, well organized, hands-on, collaborative, and exciting. Our classroom was buzzing with energy and participation. Teachers came early and stayed late. As I reflect on the experience three weeks later, I realize that the workshop organizers and leaders continually modeled best practices. My big goal for the coming school year will be to further integrate those best practices in my own classrooms.

So, let me take each of those best practices in turn and explain in greater detail how they might influence my teaching:

The “Primarily Digital” workshop was well organized. We began each day with a review of the agenda, which was projected at the front of the room and in our notebooks. The agenda provided both a schedule for the day and the learning objectives. I usually post an objective at the beginning of my class, but I will make it a more intentional practice in the year to come. I will also include a specific time schedule. Such a practice will help frame the work, keep us on task, and give the students a sense of what to anticipate for the day.

The “Primarily Digital” workshop was relevant. The instructors and leaders continually drew connections between the materials introduced and our own classrooms. There was a practical link to current events. In my own classroom, I think students appreciate understanding why we learn something and how it might inform or influence modern events. With the study of history, it is important to draw connections to the present day. I will continually focus on that objective.

The “Primarily Digital” workshop was hands-on. We had the chance to physically examine historical newspapers. We created a social media campaign and designed our own buttons for a political cause. We were up and moving and engaged in the task of “doing history.” This approach was so much more engaging that a lecture. Again, I want to bring these practices into my classroom, whether it is a gallery walk where students analyze photographs or a project where they utilize artistic talents.

The “Primarily Digital” workshop was collaborative. We worked in small groups on multiple occasions during the three days, and we learned so much given the opportunity to share our ideas and perspectives. Group work gives a voice to students who are less bold in front of a large class. The ability to collaborate is a key life skill…how does one listen carefully and respectfully?

The workshop was exciting. The organizers made fresh and interesting use of social media, including the visit to the Berlin Wall gallery where we tweeted as an East or West Berliner. In the Vietnam exhibit, we engaged in an on-line debate about the power of the media in a time of war.

I appreciated many aspects of the workshop. I came away with valuable resources, such as tools students may use when evaluating a source. I was introduced to several new tech tools, and discovered novel ways to use familiar tools. Ultimately, however, it was the structure of the workshop that was the biggest “aha” moment for me. By using multiple best practices for the classroom, the workshop leaders provided a powerful and engaging three days. I believe the best teachers are life-long learners, and when we use the summer to grow and have new experiences, we become better teachers. I look forward to recreating these practices in my classroom in the coming year.

See what else Sara was up to this summer on her blog. After spending a week in the “Primarily Digital” workshop, she left for a teacher exchange program to South Africa. In addition to learning about the history of Apartheid, she spent several days teaching in a high school in a township.

I am excited this week to be exploring the resources now available from Annenberg Learner [Reading & Writing in the Disciplines] and specific to disciplinary literacy. These are videos of students working on developing their literacy skills in a range of core subject areas.

I’m looking forward to being able to use these videos as starting points for conversations with my colleagues and administrators about what literacy looks like in all subject areas, not just English.

I also appreciate that the collection is searchable by discipline and topics like close reading, differentiation, gradual release of responsibility etc. It makes it easy for me to narrow down my search and preview the videos I might want to use.

Full disclosure, the reason I know about this project is because my classroom is one of the many that were filmed for the collection. It’s not possible to search by teacher, so if you really want to see me or my classroom you’ll need to look here and here, but you may also spot me in some of the expert commentary videos. My classroom shows up as an example sometimes while leading educational researchers talk about current trends in literacy instruction.

If you are a literacy coach, a resource teacher, an administrator, or anyone else responsible for helping teachers implement Common Core or develop student literacy then you will appreciate the resources from Annenberg Learner as much as I do.

Click on the book cover to find purchase information through Stenhouse.com.